Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are used in a variety of applications, including optical display systems. Such systems often include a light source that projects light rays onto a light modulator panel. In many optical display systems, the light modulator panel includes an array of MEMS devices commonly referred to as pixels. The pixels modulate light to control its color, intensity, hue, or other characteristics. Light modulator panel or panels modulate light that is directed thereto. As such, light modulator panels frequently do not produce light, but rather modulate light that is directed thereto.
Light modulated by light modulator panels is frequently generated by a light source module. In the case of reflective-type light modulator panels, the light source module generates sequentially color-varying light. For example, light source modules frequently include a burner coupled to a reflector that produces intense light that is directed out of the light source module. The light is then passed through a color wheel to produce sequentially color-varying light. In particular, the color wheel frequently includes red, green, and blue filters arranged and rotated such that as multi-component or white light is passed therethrough, red, green, and blue light is produced sequentially.
In addition to generating light, light source modules also produce heat. Light source modules that make use of a burner frequently produce intense heat. These systems make use of relatively complicated systems to account for the intense heat. Further, the color wheels may also be complicated to produce and operate.
Recent designs have been directed to using solid state devices to produce light. Such solid state devices produce relatively dim light at constant operating conditions. Efforts have been directed to combine the output of light from several such solid state devices. The light a light modulator panel is able to utilize depends, at least in part, on the etendue of a projection lens coupled thereto. In particular, a portion of light with an etendue value greater than that of the projection lens may be wasted. The etendue of the light depends on the area of the beam of light as well as the solid angle of the beam at that point. Combining solid state devices spatially and/or angularly frequently results in an increase in the total etendue of the sources.